Not Applicable
Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to vehicle disabling devices, and more particularly to a vehicle disabling device that that can be projected under a fleeing vehicle to deploy spikes to flatten the tires of the fleeing vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
High-speed vehicular police chases of criminal suspects sometimes result in harm to innocent bystanders, especially in densely populated urban areas. To apprehend a fleeing criminal while minimizing potential danger to bystanders, it is desirable to stop fleeing vehicles before they can cause an accident.
An effective device for stopping the suspect""s vehicle must be able to operate across at least a small distance between a pursuit vehicle and the fleeing vehicle. Following represents the state of the art in stopping fleeing vehicles:
Abukhader, U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,408, teaches a device for remotely disabling a vehicle by deflation of the vehicle""s tires. The device is mounted on an underside of a pursuit vehicle. A laser light in the device indicates where a projectile expelled by the device will pass. The device is operated by directing the laser light at an underside of a chased vehicle and causing the device to expel the projectile. When the projectile is so expelled, it extends numerous spikes which destroy and deflate the chased vehicle""s tires, thereby disabling the chased vehicle and preventing harm to innocent bystanders.
Pacholok et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,849, teaches a mechanical tire deflating device that uses a spring loaded launch tube to launch a folded deflating spike under a fleeing vehicle desired to be stopped. When the mechanical tire deflating device is under the vehicle being pursued, a cable pulls a pin from the folded deflating spike and springs cause a pair of tire deflating spikes to extend and thereby deflate the tires of the pursued vehicle. The above-described references are hereby incorporated by reference in full.
These and similar prior art devices rely on the spikes being shot through the air to hopefully fly under the fleeing vehicle. While a laser can be used to help guide the launch of the spikes, it is entirely up to luck for the spikes to actually go under the fleeing vehicle. Since the chase will likely be at high speed, and involve constant changes in speed and direction, actual success of these devices is questionable.
Worst of all, failure of these prior art device will most likely result in the spikes going under the pursuit vehicle and disabling the pursuit vehicle and perhaps other police cars in the area.
The prior art teaches spike deployment devices that launch a spike deployment device through the air and under a fleeing vehicle to, hopefully, disable the fleeing vehicle. However, the prior art does not teach a vehicle disabling device that is adapted to roll upon at least one wheel, and is projected under the vehicle using a plurality of elongate extension tubes. The present invention fulfills these needs and provides further related advantages as described in the following summary.
The present invention teaches certain benefits in construction and use which give rise to the objectives described below.
The present invention provides a vehicle disabling device for disabling a fleeing vehicle. The vehicle disabling device includes a means for projecting a carriage from a launch platform. The carriage includes at least one carriage wheel and is adapted for rectilinear movement in front of a pursuit vehicle such as a police vehicle. The carriage also includes a first arm and a second arm connected pivotally to the carriage. A plurality of spikes are disposed along the first and second arms, adapted to puncture the tires of the fleeing vehicle once the fleeing vehicle has run over one of the first and second arms. The vehicle disabling device includes a means for projecting the carriage under the vehicle using a plurality of elongate extension tubes. Once the carriage reaches a predetermined maximum distance, and is under the fleeing vehicle, the vehicle disabling device operates to disable the fleeing vehicle.
A primary objective of the present invention is to provide a vehicle disabling device having advantages not taught by the prior art.
Another objective is to provide a vehicle disabling device that rolls along the ground on at least one carriage wheel, the at least one carriage wheel providing stability and guidance to assure that the carriage is successfully placed under the fleeing vehicle.
A further objective is to provide a vehicle disabling device that remains fixedly attached to the pursuit vehicle so that full control is maintained over the carriage and the plurality of spikes do not inadvertently damage the pursuit vehicle or any other vehicles on the road.